Whether it’s a standard door or a high-end custom design for new construction or renovation, Decran has a steel door for every construction project. The technical requirements and finishes—dimensions, hinge direction, locks, glazing, and specific characteristics—vary from project to project. As a result, there is a complex flow of information behind every door.
To monitor production and streamline internal operations, Decran chose to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Alistar’s Project Manufacturing module. This brings its entire supply chain together in a single, future-oriented ERP environment.
The greatest benefit of the new ERP system is that it enables everyone to collaborate efficiently and ensures there is a single source of truth across all departments.
Pieter Vangheluwe, General Manager
Decran, based in Ooigem, West Flanders, has been in business for exactly 30 years. Over that time, it has grown into a national leader in steel doors for industrial and public buildings. These doors can be found, for example, in the new parking garage at Brussels Airport, the Delhaize distribution center in Vorst, and the H. Essers warehouses in Wilrijk. “We handle everything in-house, from design and preparation through production and finishing to installation and after-sales service,” says General Manager Pieter Vangheluwe. “This allows us to maintain control over both the quality and the timing of our projects.”
Efficient production requires transparency
The extensive range and high-end custom work that Decran offers make the production process complex. Even within a single project, there can be various door types, dimensions, and components. “Virtually every door we make is different,” Pieter explains. “That means we need to be able to meticulously track which door was produced for which customer and which project, and where it will ultimately be installed. That traceability is also important for our after-sales service. If a repair is needed years later, we can still look up the details of each door using its serial number.”
This approach places high demands on the internal flow of information. Estimators, buyers, project managers, production staff, installers, and the accounting department must be able to rely on complete, up-to-date data in the ERP system at all times. It must also support the entire workflow of each project.
A New ERP, a Trusted Partner
Decran has been using Dynamics NAV for this purpose since 2018. Because that version had reached the end of its life cycle, an upgrade was necessary. Since the company uses many applications from the Microsoft ecosystem, the choice of Dynamics 365 Business Central was an obvious one. Pieter Vangheluwe: “On the one hand, we were able to easily transfer existing data—both customer and project data. The transition also had less of an impact on employees than switching to an unfamiliar ERP platform.”
The decision to choose Alistar as the implementation partner was also a quick one. The IT service provider had already implemented Decran’s previous ERP solution in 2018 and is therefore familiar with the company.
Alistar is familiar with our products, our processes, and the challenges we face. At the same time, we know that their consultants contribute their insights and constantly challenge us to critically examine our processes.
Standardization avoids unnecessary customization
After all, a new ERP implementation offers an opportunity to further digitize and optimize processes. “Our goal is to become paperless,” says Decran’s general manager. “So the switch to Business Central was a good time to assess where our processes could be improved. To work efficiently, we also adapted our existing way of working to the standard workflow in the ERP system for a number of tasks. This allowed us to avoid unnecessary customization. In fact, that accelerated the rollout of the new implementation.”
A module tailored to project-based work
Within Business Central, Decran uses the Project Manufacturing module, which Alistar developed specifically for project-based manufacturing companies. The module consolidates the tracking of all activities within a single project structure. Jeroen De Vuyst of Alistar: “Decran’s operations are actually a complex web of information and sequential processes.” Our Project Manufacturing module makes it possible to track the entire project tree: from the purchase of parts through production and installation to financial processing. This creates a seamless flow of information throughout the organization. ”Thanks to post-project costing, management gains insights into profitability and can make adjustments where necessary.”
Our Project Manufacturing module ensures a continuous flow of information throughout the organization.
Jeroen Devuyst, Account Manager
“The combination of Business Central with Alistar’s Project Manufacturing solution makes it possible to track the entire project tree: from the purchase of parts through production and installation to financial processing. This creates a seamless flow of information throughout the organization. ”Thanks to post-project analysis, management gains insights into profitability and can make adjustments where necessary,” Jeroen adds.
A future-proof cloud system
For Decran, the greatest added value lies in the fact that all employees now collaborate within the same environment. “Because everyone uses the same data, there is now a single source of truth in the system,” emphasizes Pieter Vangheluwe. “Employees can find what they need more quickly and share information with each other much more efficiently. Furthermore, we opted for a cloud-based solution, which makes our ERP system future-proof and cyber-secure.”.
We now want to expand the system even further to include other Microsoft applications and incorporate AI as well. Since we work with people of various nationalities, automatic translations, for example, could simplify communication.
